Apple TV certainly has its uses, but the original XBox is easier to hack, …

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I was out of town this weekend meeting a friend from back home who happened to be in Columbus, OH, on business. Originally we'd planned to go karting, but the threat of rain and the lure of beer took us in a different direction. Rob happens to be a big Gran Turismo 4 fan and is still gloating about beating my 5 min 42 sec Nürburgring time. Instead of spending close to $100 on an afternoon at the go-kart track, I decided to take my cash to a well-known national games retailer and instead picked up a used XBox and Forza, all with which to convert him in time for the sequel's release.

In these days of PS3s and Xbox 360s, it's easy to forget the consoles that came before them. But they're still there, and with the prices falling by the day and huge libraries of games that you know will work without emulation issues, there's still life in them. Just buying the XBox for a disposable weekend of Forza might be seen as wasteful, but Microsoft's first foray into the games console market has more uses than just gaming. In fact, in the following ways it may even be a better media investment than competing products. What does it do better than the much hyped-AppleTV, for instance?

Lower price: $99 sure is cheap compared to $300

Open standards for types of files: Being able to play DivX or WMV content is good

It also plays games: It's still a games console, after all

While in Columbus, we happened to pass through the Apple store, and I got my first look at the AppleTV. A slick piece of kit, to be sure, and one you'll be able to read all about at Ars Technica shortly, but not quite suited to my needs. I want to be able to watch DivX files on my TV; it's the only way to keep up with TV from back home, and legally, too (thanks, Auntie Beeb!). Apple's beautiful little box can't help me out, but give my wife a used XBox, and 20 minutes later an XBMC media center is the solution to my needs. Plus, it can stream BBC Radio 4 to boot! Sure, you can always open up and hack an AppleTV, but you do so at the cost of your warranty. With secondhand hardware that's cheap, that's not a concern.

The arrival of our XBox 360 meant that our first XBox could be repurposed as the living-room media server. Now I don't need to keep plugging my PowerBook into the bedroom TV set, and Elle can pipe her music collection from her PC to her heart's content. It's not the sort of thing I'd suggest for my parents or anyone else of a technophobic nature, but if the AppleTV won't do what you want or if you prefer rolling your own, pop down to your local used video game emporium and see what's lurking in their stockroom. Apple TV certainly has its uses, but the original Xbox is easier to hack, cheaper, and has much more support from the hacking community right now than Apple TV. If you've not looked into XBMC, it's absolutely worth it. Depending on your needs, it may be a far superior option to Apple TV, or any of the other PC-to-TV devices out there today.